MEDIA RELEASE UPDATE

Police have charged a 43-year-old woman with theft for allegedly purchasing two vehicles with fraudulent documents.

At 2 p.m. Thursday (December 23, 2004), West Hawaii Criminal Investigation Section detectives charged the suspect, April Kealamakia, of Waimea, with two counts of first-degree theft. The suspect was then released on her own recognizance.

Kealamakia allegedly purchased the two vehicles — a blue 2005 Ford Expedition SUV and a solver 2005 Ford F350 pickup truck — with a fraudulent pre-authorized transfer order (bill of exchange) and other financial documents from a Kailua-Kona automobile dealership.

Kona police have recovered both vehicles, which were valued at a total of $91,484.